Carpooling to PAC

Tired of rising fuel prices?

Bonnie Thompson, a Senior Secretary in the PAC Science Department, would like to know if any PAC employees are interested in carpooling. If interested, please call Bonnie at Extension 5133 or email her at bthompson@mail.accd.edu.

Bonnie will note pick-up and drop-off locations of everyone interested in participating , along with arrival and departure times to and from PAC. She will then notify you if there are possible matches with other PAC employees.

Bonnie encourages everyone to give it a try—you’ll not only save money, but also help save the environment!

Go Green! Did You Know...

"FACT: The energy used in the average home can be responsible for more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions of the average car. When you use less energy at home, you reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and help protect our environment from the risks of global climate change."Source: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_lighting#ProductText

Go Green! Did You Know...

"FACT: The energy used in the average home can be responsible for more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions of the average car. When you use less energy at home, you reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and help protect our environment from the risks of global climate change."

Source: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_lighting#ProductText

PAC Student to Compete for Accordion Title

Palo Alto College student Brian Gallegos is one of three finalists competing in Houston for the “Big Squeeze” accordion title sponsored by Texas Folklife, a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating and fostering the diverse and living traditional arts heritage of the Lone Star State, June 7.

Also competing for the grand prize of $500 and one day of recording time in Houston’s historic SugarHill Recording Studios are John Ramirez, 16, of Houston, and Heriberto Rodriguez, 15, of Edcouch.

The three finalists will compete for the title prior to Texas Folklife’s 19th annual Accordion Kings Concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston.

The audience will help pick the winner of the accordion contest, designed to “encourage young players to keep on squeezin’.” Ramirez, who had entered the contest last year, and Rodriguez, are semi-finalists in the 18-and-under age category. Gallegos is a finalist in the 19-25 age category. The finals are not divided by age.

Each finalist received $250 and a trip to Houston for the competition, and were interviewed for a documentary by Hector Galán about the competition. Galán and his crew will also film the finals; Houston band “Avizo” will provide backing for the players.Judges for the finals include SugarHill owner Dan Workman, a member of the Recording Academy’s Texas Chapter board of governors; Arlyn Visentin, president of the Houston Accordion Association; Roger Wood, author of “Texas Zydeco” and “Down in Houston”; and Gus Garza, host of KPFT-FM’s Tejano music show “Bailando en Tejas/Dancing in Texas.”

ACCD International Lecture

Dr. Leslie and the ACCD are hosting a 14-member delegation from Scotland and Northern Ireland. During their 2-day visit, the group will tour our colleges and meet with faculty, staff, and administrators.

On Thursday, May 29th at 10:00 a.m., you are invited to a presentation by Mr. John McCann, Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Further Education Unit, who will speak on the British/Scottish System of Performance Measurement.

Please contact Sally Espinoza (208-8020 or cespinoza30@mail.accd.edu) by noon on Tuesday, May 27th if you plan to attend.

Karen Marcotte's Notes from Spain

As some of you may be aware, Karen Marcotte and Javier Aguirre have taken 19 ACCD students to Spain as part of PAC’s Study Abroad Program! Karen will be sending me emails regarding the student’s experiences during their time Spain. Below are Karen’s first two emails:

Wednesday, May 21:

The Palo Alto College Study Abroad Program has landed and is in full swing! There are 22 participants representing the ACC as we study in Spain. The two faculty members are Professor Javier Aguirre and Professor Karen Marcotte. Professor Sheryd Jackson from the SAC nursing program is also a participant. The 19 students represent PAC (16), NLV (1), SAC (1) and the University of the Incarnate Word (1). Each student is taking two courses from the following list: Hist 2321 (World Civ. I), hist 2322 (World Civ II), Huma 1301 Intro to Humanities or Huma 2323 (World Cultures and Global Issues).

We all arrived safely and so did all the luggage. From Madrid, we went directly to Toledo, the old Iberian capital of Spain. This ancient and modern city of @ 55,000 is a perfect first stop. Small and full of human history, the students have already enjoyed walking the narrow streets, admiring the Feast of Corpus Christi decorations and watching people from a sidewalk cafe. Our guide, Gary Enriquez, fondly remembers the PAC group from last year and we are already old friends. Today we will visit the Cathedral, the ancient Roman walls which still ring this city on a hill and a synagogue. The classes have been meeting since February and the students are quite eager to move from the theoretical to the empirical. They are prepared to learn and are excited about doing so. For many, this is their first trip abroad. Two had never flown before! They are ready for the experience of a life time!

Thursday, May 22:

The PAC Study Abroad group spent a full and delightful day in the city of Toledo. Our day began with a talk on the three cultures of this part of Spain: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Note that the expression is the three cultures, not the three religions. The interaction of these faiths is only part of their history here. Our first on site discussion was at the Toledo Cathedral. We (even those of us who had visited here before) were amazed (again)! The students could not look enough, ask enough questions or hear enough information from our guide. They were all thrilled with the beauty, the size, the various forms of art from various artistic time periods and the significance of this human creation. A special treat was the many activities going on associated with the major feast of Corpus Christi here. The host will be carried around town in a 200 kilo gold monstrance. As we left the Cathedral yesterday, groups of children were bringing flowers and practicing for the procession today. We will miss the major procession but we have been participating in the prior activities such as the parade yesterday with huge statues of important figures in Toledo´s history. Leading the parade was Queen Isabella; King Ferdinand was next followed by bishops and other characters. The statues were at least ten feet tall. A band kept everyone moving to the beat and it was very much a Fiesta atmosphere but on a smaller scale.

We continued on to a synagogue that had been built by Muslim craftsmen so the feel was that of a mosque. The local mosque is under renovation so there was limited time there. In our free afternoon, we did a little shopping, attending other events such as patio competitions with the best garden, the Santa Cruz museum and one of my favorite, plaza sitting and watching people!

Today we head to Consuegra to visit the windmills of Don Quixote fame. We will quiz the students over their reading of Don Quixote and then on to Granada. More later !

Karen Marcotte
PAC Study Abroad
Toledo, Spain

North Central News Seeks Reporter

From Edmond Ortiz, Editor, North Central News:

I’m trying to pass along word about a full-time job opportunity with Prime Time Newspapers. It’s being a staff writer for a weekly that I’m editing, North Central News. It basically covers the areas between U.S. 281 and 1-10, and between Loop 410 and the north Bexar County line. We need to fill the position by this month’s end....

We’re seeking a self-starter, experienced journalist who’s interested mainly in community reporting. It’s salaried with benefits. No college degree is necessary. If you could pass along the word through the grapevine, perhaps someone who’s interested and available will answer fast. Hopefully in the next couple of days! They can send an email with resume my way and we’ll go from there. Thanks!

Edmond Ortiz
Editor, North Central News
Direct: 210-453-3391
Cell: 210-842-5010
eortiz@primetimenewspapers.com
Alt email: eortiz@journalist.com
www.clickitsa.com"The one important thing is to never stop questioning." -- Albert Einstein

Rudy Ortiz

Rudy Ortiz, former Faculty Counselor at San Antonio College and former City Council Member, will be posthumously presented his emeritus status at tonight’s ACCD Board meeting (Tuesday, May 20) at 6:00 p.m. Members of his family will be present. We hope you will be able to attend.

Cafeteria Summer Hours

PAC Cafeteria
Hours of Operation

Monday-Thursday

Through May 29
(Grill Items Only)

7:30 am – 1:30 pm

PAC/TAMU Offer $10K STEM Scholarship

Palo Alto College (PAC) and the Texas A&M University College of Science are teaming up to make the dream of achieving a four-year math or science degree a reality for high school and college students by offering up to $10,000 per year in scholarship assistance for any unmet financial needs.

Backed by a five-year, $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, the two partners have established the Science Scholars Program which will provide scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics who begin their studies at PAC, a two-year program, then transfer to Texas A&M to complete their four-year degrees.

San Antonio area high school students that have dual credit or participate in a Campus Connections/PAC Access project, and are in the top 10 percent of their class with a minimum Math SAT of 550 are eligible for the program. Current PAC students with a 3.0 GPA in biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics will also be considered.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is June 1. For additional information on the scholarship application process, please call Sara Wilkins in the PAC Science Department at 921-5295. A scholarship application can be found at www.science.tamu.edu/sciencescholars/.

S.A. Current Job Fair

Current Job Fair
WHEN: Friday, May 16, 10am-3pm
WHERE: Omni San Antonio Hotel, 9821 Colonnade Blvd

The San Antonio Current is hosting a Spring Job Fair Friday, May 16 at the Omni San Antonio Hotel at 9821 Colonnade Blvd from 10am-3pm. Dress to impress and come ready to meet with the area's top employers for on the spot interviews. Participating employers are still being added but already confirmed are UPS, AFNI, Healthcare Resolution Services, Demo's Greek Food, Job Ready Training, Taco Cabana, Nurses Etc, Omni Hotel, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Harris Connect, Roy Maas Youth Alternatives, Education Services, San Antonio Current, The St. Anthony Hotel, US Border Patrol, Ace Cash Express, and Rackspace. A free laptop computer will be given away to one lucky person who attends the job fair.

For more information and for a virtual Job Fair visit www.sacurrent.com.

Veteran's Oral History Project

The following announcement is sent by Audrey Grams, Service-Learning Coordinator at San Antonio College

Greetings ACCD Community:

I am very excited to tell you that San Antonio College and Service-Learning is working hard at a very important and innovative project. I alerted you about this in the Fall and Spring semesters. We are interviewing veterans for the Veteran’s Oral History Project. We have students from Phi Theta Kappa and students in Government, History and English classes working on this project this semester for service-learning for the summer I semester. We would like to include all faculty, staff, students and community members (and their families) from ACCD that would like to be interviewed. This national project began to record histories of WW2 veterans as they are dying at a rate of 1000 each month. We would like to get these first. We would also like to record as many other veterans as we can. It does not matter what you or they did or if they served during peace time or war time. You can actually even be an active military member. It is just important to records these histories. These interviews will be recorded on tape or video and transcribed and sent to the US Library of Congress.

If you are interested or know anyone interested in being interviewed, please have them contact Luis Sandoval, Volunteer Coordinator at the San Antonio USO at 227-9373 ext 11 AND email him at lsandoval@alamouso.org. He will put you on the interview list. Make sure you say you are from ACCD or want to be interviewed by one of our volunteers. It may be next semester until this occurs if we have a large response. The interview will only take 30-45 minutes. Interviews will take place at 420 E. Commerce St. (USO) unless one of our students needs to go to a residence due to the age of the veteran. The USO will supply the location, veterans, equipment and free parking.

In regards to students or volunteers at ACCD that want to interview veterans they know on their own, they should contact Sgt. Tracy English at 671-2211 or Audrey Grams, SAC Service-Learning Coordinator for all of the details about what you need to do to record these histories correctly so that they can be sent to the US Library of Congress or housed her at San Antonio College.

All hours served can be collected for the President’s Volunteer Service Awards.

If you are a faculty member interested in including this project into a service-learning project for next semester, please let me know. This is a great project that can apply to many subjects. Mini-grants are still available but you must contact me soon.

Waterhouse awarded Ryan Smith Guzman Scholarship

Congratulations to Cindy Gutierrez-Waterhouse, who graduated Magna Cum Laude with an Associates of Arts in Teaching degree last night. Cindy has been awarded the first Ryan Smith Guzman Scholarship, established by Palo Alto College President Dr. Ana M. "Cha" Guzman, in memory of son.

Cindy is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, a national honors society for two-year colleges; she is a graduate of the ACC’s Student Leadership Institute Tier I and Tier II.

On numerous occasions she has been on the Dean’s List and President’s Honor List.

Other accomplishments while at Palo Alto College include:
· Single-handedly organizing a tribute to victims at the University of West Virginia
· Running for Student Government office
· Serving on a student panel during Black History Month
· Representing the College at numerous conferences at the State and National level
· Giving back to the community as a volunteer
· Serving as emcee at numerous events for the College and the District.

One professor describes her as a having a passion for learning who is always willing to help others.

Cindy has a 3.8 grade point average and will be transferring to Our Lady of the Lake University in the Fall.

Cindy and her husband Paul have two children, Abby who is 7 years old and Carrie, 5.

PAC Commencement

Palo Alto College

22nd Annual Commencement Ceremony

Thursday, May 8

7 p.m.

Municipal Auditorium

Tickets Required

Food Service Update

Palo Alto College Community:

We wanted to update you on Food Service coverage during the Summer and impending changes for the Fall.

The search for a new food vendor is on the fast track. A representative committee of faculty, staff and students has been charged with finding a quality vendor that can provide an array of food service options. The committee has already identified two vendors and has begun visiting sites. The goal is for the committee to make a decision for the May 20th Board meeting.

In anticipation of contract changes, the current contractor will be downsizing and closing operations during early May. The new contractor will begin to provide limited service on June 9th , the first day of Summer school, with full service starting at the beginning of the Fall semester. The break in food service, between May 16 & June 9, is one that typically occurs between the Spring and Summer semesters because of an absence of students on campus. If additional service is needed during the Summer, the current catering vendors will be available and food trucks have been requested to visit the Colleges.

This information is to enable you to plan for your food needs during this period. You will be advised of any changes or additions to this plan.

St. Philip's Mourns Passing of Former President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matari Jones-Gunter, College Director of Community and Public Relations
(210) 531-3260
mgunter@mail.accd.edu

FORMER ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE PRESIDENT DIES
She was the third woman to lead college in 100 years

SAN ANTONIO (May 5, 2008)– Words like “gracious” and “down-to-earth” were used to describe former St. Philip’s College President Dr. Angie Runnels. Dr. Runnels died Friday after a lengthy illness. She was 70.

“It is a sad day for St. Philip’s,” said Dr. Adena Williams Loston, the current president of St. Philip’s College. “Dr. Runnels left a lasting impression on the field of education and the extended St. Philip’s College community,” she said. “My heart goes out to her family,” Loston said.

Dr. Runnels passed away at home with her daughter by her side.

”On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Alamo Community Colleges, I want to extend our deepest sympathy to the Runnels’ family and the St. Philip’s College community for the loss of former president, Dr. Angie Runnels,” said Dr. Bruce Leslie, Chancellor of the Alamo Community Colleges, of which St. Philip’s is a member. “Her strong and skillful leadership helped guide the future for St. Philip’s,” he said.

Dr. Runnels served as President of St. Philip’s College from 2000-2006. Prior to arriving at St. Philip’s College, Dr. Runnels served as executive district director of educational partnerships for the Dallas County Community College District where she was responsible for developing educational partnerships and alliances with public schools, colleges and universities, corporations, business and industry and other community colleges.

“Dr. Runnels was a lady – gracious and wise,” said Kitty Flores who served as Dr. Runnels’ administrative assistant for six and a half years. “She will be truly missed,” she said.

It was a sentiment expressed by others.

“She was always a lady,” recalled Pat Williams, an archive assistant at St. Philip’s College, who knew the president for six years. “I cried when I first heard the news, at least she won’t be suffering anymore,” Williams said.

Dr. Runnels earned a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in education at East Texas State in Commerce and a bachelor’s degree in English from Butler College.

Her family plans to establish a St. Philip’s College scholarship in her memory.

A memorial service is planned for this Thursday, May 8th at 12:30 p.m. at Restland Wildwood Chapel in Dallas.

About St. Philip’s: St. Philip’s College was founded in 1898 by Bishop James Steptoe Johnston of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of the West Texas Diocese. Today, St. Philip’s is a multi-campus institution of the Alamo Community Colleges and serves a semester enrollment of nearly 10,000 credit and more than 5,000 continuing education students. St. Philip’s is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution and is the only college in the nation that carries this dual designation. As “A Point of Pride in the Community,” St. Philip’s is among the oldest and most diverse community colleges in the United States.
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Project Graduation

Project Graduation
Feed a body. Feed a Mind.

When it comes to fighting hunger and illiteracy in our community....You can make a difference.

What you can do: The mission of Project Graduation is to battle the social issues of hunger and illiteracy by collecting non-perishable food items, books and hygiene products during college commencement season. Your donated items will go toward the Palo Alto food pantry and the library, then into the hands of someone in need. Every donation makes a difference.

Where: The 2008 Graduation Party located in the Palo Alto Student Center
When: May 9, 2008 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A Community Service Initiative of Phi Theta Kappa/Alpha Pi Iota International Honor Society
For more information, please contact:

Lauren Cevallos at lcevallos4@mail.accd.edu or

Gabriella Reynosa at greynosa1@mail.accd.edu

PR NOTE: Please click on the following link to read an article from today’s San Antonio Express-News about the growing reliance on food banks.

Palo Alto College is mentioned in the article.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA.050208.FOODBANK.EN.3889802.html

PAC Graduation Party
Student Center Cafeteria
Friday, May 9
Doors Open at 5:30 p.m.
Dinner 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Musical Entertainment by
Stefani Montiel
6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

RSVP by May 5, 5 p.m.
921-5269